Neil Lennon has revealed Marian Shved's omission from Celtic's 7-0 thumping of St Johnstone was a tactical decision.
There was no place in the squad for the Ukrainian winger who scored a wonder goal on his debut against Nomme Kalju in midweek.
He emerged from the bench to put the finishing touches on a 2-0 win before being left to accommodate defensive re-enforcements against Saints.
But Lennon says the wide man will be in his thoughts for the trip to face CFR Cluj in Champions League qualifying on Wednesday night.
He said: “I hope Shved will be back on Wednesday but I can only pick 18 players.
“With Jozo and Jullien out today, I needed to bolster the bench with defenders just in case and that proved right with the injury to Elhamed.
“But Marian should be back in the squad. He’s only played 25 minutes in the last few weeks and I’ve got good depth there.”
Meanwhile, hat-trick hero Ryan Christie says the ruthless display against Saints is a warning to Celtic's title rivals.
The Hoops midfielder was superb as Neil Lennon's team destroyed the Perth side on flag day at Parkhead.
Celtic are gunning for their 9th title in a row and Christie believes their dismantling of Tommy Wright’s team was a statement of intent.
Goals from Mikey Johnston, Odsonne Edouard, Olivier Ntcham and Leigh Griffiths completed the rout.
And afterwards, Christie said: “We wanted to make a statement today. Coming off the back of tough games in Europe, it was important we started well in the league.
“Every team wants to get off to as good a start as possible and we’ve done that.
“With it being flag day, the first game at Celtic Park, it was especially important.
“We’ve touched on the fact that we have to make this place the fortress it has been known for in the past – trying to win games by big margins. And that’s what we managed to do today.”
Delighted gaffer Lennon hailed his side’s display as the ‘perfect’ performance and praised his players’ relentless attitude.
He said: “That was the perfect performance, in every aspect of our play.
“There was a relentlessness about us which really pleased me.
“Our substitutes were fantastic when they came on as well, they made a great contribution.
“We’ve beaten a good, rugged St Johnstone team. In fact, we took them apart at times.
“For an opening game of the season, seven goals? Wow, just wow.
“People keep asking me if we’re sending out a message. But we don’t need to send messages out.
“There are three trophies sitting at the front of the pitch out there, I think that’s enough. We’ve done our talking on the pitch again.
“It’s a brilliant start for us and if people think it sends out a message, so be it.
“I actually think we’ve got more goals in this team. We weren’t tippy tappy today. We had a belief and a purpose that we could shoot and take chances.”
Lennon also heaped praise on in-form Christie who’s now Celtic’s first pick attacking midfielder.
He said: “He’s unquestionably established himself now in this team.
“He was unhappy with me in Europe when I took him off after he got two goals.
“So I left him on for the hat-trick today then subbed him. He was still unhappy because he wanted four. He’s a greedy get!
“But he’s in a good place, he’s a great boy and so easy to work with. He just wants to impress and please people.
“I’ve inherited a great player there.”
